Tanager-1 First Methane and Carbon Dioxide Plume Detections

The Carbon Mapper Coalition's Tanager-1 satellite on Sept. 19, 2024, captured data over Karachi, Pakistan, showing the location and concentration of a methane plume measuring about 2½ miles (4 kilometers) long, emanating from a landfill. Enabled by the nonprofit Carbon Mapper and built by Planet Labs PBC, Tanager-1 uses an imaging spectrometer designed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. Carbon Mapper's preliminary estimate of the source emissions rate is about 2,600 pounds (1,200 kilograms) of methane released per hour. Launched from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Aug. 16, 2024, Tanager-1 is part of a broader effort by the nonprofit Carbon Mapper to identify and measure greenhouse gas point-source emissions on a global scale. Both Planet and JPL are members of the philanthropically funded Carbon Mapper Coalition. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA26416